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(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1. G. F. MARTIN. MATTRESS FILLING MACHINE.

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(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. G. P. MARTIN MATTRESS FILLING MACHINE.

Patented Feb. '15, 1898.

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UNITED STATEe PATENT OEEicE,

GEORGE F. MARTIN, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOAMENZO GRIFFITH, OF SAME PLACE.

MATTRESS-[FILLING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 599,299, dated February15, 1898.

Application filed January 15, 1897. Serial No. 619,879. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. MARTIN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts,have invented new and useful Improvements in Mattress-Filling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mattress-filling machines, and has for itsobject the production of a machine of the above class which shall beeflicient and powerful in operation, of inexpensive construction, andunder easy control of the operator; and the invention consists of theconstruction and arrangement of the machine as set forth in thefollowing specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sideelevation, partly in section, of a machine constructed according to myinvention. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan View on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3isa cross sectional View of the lower part of the machine on line 3 3,Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, A A A A are four vertical posts formingthe corners of a frame for the machine. A represents two longitudinaltimbers united to said posts A at a suitable distance from their lowerends. A represents the longitudinal timbers uniting the upper ends ofsaid posts A. One end of said timbers A projects for a certain distancebeyond said posts A, as shown, for the support of the driving-shaft andclutch mechanism by which the machine is operated, and said projectingends of the timbers A are supported by short posts A Suitable timbers B,between the posts A and 13, between the posts A, unite the two sides ofthe frame near the lower ends of the said posts, and similar pieces (notclearly shown) unite the upper extremities of the said posts, the wholeconstituting a rigid rectangular frame for the machine. A rigid floor Cis laid between posts A in the said frame and constitutes the bottom ofthe box-like structure in which the material is compressed with whichthe mattress is to be filled. One end of said box is closed by themovable plunger D and the opposite end by the damper E, so called. Saiddamper, which is hinged at 2 on the frame of the machine, is providedwith a weighted handle 3, by which it is kept in a vertical or closedposition during the operation of compressing the 1nattress-filling andwhich is maintained by the same means in a horizontal position, as shownin Fig. 1, when the plunger D is operated to force the compressedfilling into a mattress-tick. The sides of said box are formed of onefixed side a and one movable side a. The latter is adjustabletransversely on the floor 0, whereby the machine is adapted to thecompression of masses of filling for mattresses of various widths. Themeans for effecting said adjustment are shown in Figs. 2 and 3, andconsist of a series of holes Z7, bored through the floor O, and acasting screwed onto the side of a, having a hole therein through whicha pin 12' is passed, which engages one of the said holes I). Saidadjusting devices may be applied in two or more places, as required,along the side of a. Fig. 3 illustrates this adjustment of the side a.

The compressing mechanism is constructed as follows: On shafts 4: and 5,suitably supported on the frame of the machine, are hinged the twocompressing-platens F F by hinges 6. Said platens F and F have a reciprocating movement vertically through. the arc of a circle of whichsaid shafts 4 and 5 are the centers. Said platens are raised by means ofthe chains 7 for platen F and the chain 8 for platen F. A shaft 9,extending transversely across the top of the frame of the machine, hason one end thereof a gear 10, and is provided with the sprocket-wheels12 for chains '7and 13 for chain 8, which sprockets are fixed on saidshaft in any convenient mannen' Said sprockets are shown in plan View inFig. 2 in dotted lines. A shaft 14 is supported in a bracket 15 at rightangles to shaft 9 and has fixed thereon a worm-gear 16, which engageswith the teeth of the gear 10. On said shaft 14 are two loose pulleys 17and 18, driven in opposite directions by straight and cross belts frompulleys 19 and 20 on driving-shaft 21, supported parallel with saidshaft 9 in suitable bearings on the extended ends of the timbers A, asdescribed. Said shaft 21 is provided with a driving-pulley 22 and aclutch mechanism, whereby said shaft is made to rotate in eitherdirection, which clutch mechanism is described farther on. Between thepulleys 17 and 18 on the shaft 14 are two friction-disks 23 and 24,having a common hub, all made in one piece and having a splineand-grooveconnection with said shaft, whereby said disks revolve with saidshaft,but are movable longitudinally thereon. A lever 25 for impartingsaid movement thereto is pivoted on the bracket 15, and by aconnecting-rod 26 between said lever, and a second lever 27, pivoted onthe opposite end of the-frame, permits said friction-disks to beoperated from either end of the machine to raise or lower thecompressing-platens F and F. Said platens are raised, as described, bythe chains 7 and 8. \Vhen the lever 25 is moved to the right by therotation of shaft 9, which results from the contact of frictiondisks 23with the side of the pulley 17, the worm 16 rotates gear 10 on saidshaft and the sprockets 12 and 13 thereon to take up said chains andraise the platens.

When the mattress-filling has been spread on the floor 0 of the machineto be compressed and forced into a mattress-tick, the platens are moveddown against said filling material, first by gravity and finally bypressure exerted by the chains 7, as follows: Under and parallel withthe timbers A constituting the top of the sides of the frame of'themachine, are two timbers H, the adjoining surfaces of said timbersconstituting a guide-slot in which two flanged wheels 28 run, only oneof which is shown. Said wheels are fixed on opposite ends of a shaft 30,supported in the upper ends of two swinging arms 31, whose lower endsare supported on a shaft 32, having suitable bearings on a timber 33,secured transversely across the platen F, which serves to strengthen thelatter and to support the bars 34, bolted to said transverse timber 33and a second timber 33 parallel therewith. Said bars 34 are of suchlength as to project beyond the meeting edges of the two platens whenthey approach a horizontal position, whereby the said bars on F mayreach over and bear upon a transversely-located timber 35 on platen F.The forcible depression of the platens F F is accomplished by carryingthe chains 7 from eyebolts 36 in the bars 34 up and partly around thesprocket-wheels 12, and from thence to the shaft 30, to which saidchains are secured. It will be seen by referring to Fig. 1 that the endof the chains 7 attached to eyebolts 36 slacks up and the end of saidchains attached to shaft 30 is drawing when the shaft 9 is rotated inone direction and that the reverse takes place when the said shaft 9 isrotated in the opposite direction; and as arms 31 are never brought intoa position at right angles to the horizontal position of the platenswhen the maximum compression of the filling has been attained, itfollows that a draft on the chains 7, secured to said platens, forcessaid arms 31 back toward the hand-lever 27 by reason of rolling contactof said arms and the timber A through the flan ged wheels 28; yet saidarms 31 hold said platens rigidly against the expansion of any materialwhich may have been compressed by them because of the worm-andgearconnection for driving the shaft 9, whereby said shaft is heldstationary in whatever position it may be stopped. Chain 8, attached byone end to an eyebolt in the timber 35 on the platen F and passingaround a sprocket 13 on a shaft 13 over one end of the frame, and fromthence carried to and secured to the sprocket 13, serves to raise theplaten F simultaneously with the raising of F by chains 7. Said chain 8is given a little more slack than chain 7 in order that when shaft 9 isoperated to raise the platens the platen F may start a little ahead ofplaten F, whereby the latter will not come in contact with the bars 34on the former.

Means for moving the plunger D for forcing the filling in a compressedform into a mattress-tick consist of sprocket-chains 37, running oversprocket-wheels 38 and 39, the former on a shaft 40, hung in suitablebearings under the floor 0 of the machine near one end, and the latter,39, on a shaft 41, supported in bearings on the extended portion of thetimbers A, the last-named shaft having secured on one end thereof thebevel-gear 42. Movement is imparted to the said shaft 41 in oppositedirections by the clutch mechanism on shaft 21. This mechanism in itselfis not new and any of the various forms of reversing-clutches may beused in its stead, if desired. The clutch-lever 43 when it stands in theposition shown in Fig. 1 holds out of engagement with either of thebevel-gears 44 or 45, the clutch-hub 46, which has a splineand-grooveengagement with the shaft 21 and is movable by said lever 43, which canbe thrown to the right or left to engage either one of the bevel-gears21 to operate the shaft 41 to move the plunger D forward or to retractit after it has been so moved. Said forward-and-backward movement isimparted to the plunger D by the permanent engagement of stops securedin any convenient way to the frame of said plunger in proximity to saidchains 37. In the drawings said stops are shown as consisting of twostuds 47, bolted to the frame of the plunger and projecting downwardthrough the links of the chains. The said chains 37 run in grooves 48,cut in the surface of the floor 0, to the end that they may be movedfreely to operate the plunger D after the filling has been compressed bythe platens, as described.

The clutch-operating lever 43 is provided with a connecting-rod 49,extending lengthwise of the machine and pivotally connected to a secondoperating-lever 43, secured to the frame of the machine at the oppositeend from said clutch mechanism, whereby the latter may be operated fromeither end of the machine.

A spout S is secured to the cross-timbers B of the frame in anydesirable way and is preferably of metal, and the tick T is drawn overthe end of said spout in folds, as shown in Fig. 1, and retained thereby any of the wellknown means employed for that purpose. Thecross-sectional area of said spout S equals the similar area of thecompressed mass of filling. The spout S is made adjustable transversely,whereby a uniform width of spout and box in which the filling iscompressed may be maintained. Said adjustment consists in making thespout in two parts, one telescoping over the other, and when the movableend S has been adjusted relative to the fixed part S to the properwidth, screws pass ing through the flange of the part S into the timbers13 hold them in their proper relations the one to the other.

Automatic means for stopping the plunger D when it arrives at its limitof movement forward or backward consistin securing stops and 51 to thechain 37 nearest the shaft 21 and pivoting a lever 52 to the frame at53, one end of said lever lying in the path of the said chain. In Fig. 1the stop 50 (shown in dotted lines) is shown in the positionit would bein after having operated said lever 52 to stop the plunger D in theposition in which it is shown in said figure. When said chain is againset in motion by the operation of lever 43 or 43 to expel the fillingfrom the machine, the stops 51 travel in the direction of said clutchmechanism and reach and operate lever 52 by the time the plunger arrivesat the end of its forward motion, whereby its said movement is arrested,and the manipulation of lever 43 or 43 again starts said plunger backtoward the clutch mechanism, when its movement is again arrested, asdescribed, by the contact of stop 50 with said shipping-lever 52.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. In a mattress-filling machine, a frame, a box-like structure forthe'filling material, two compressing-platens hinged to the frame atopposite ends of said box, and means for forcibly moving said platensfrom an inclined position to a position parallel with the bottom of saidbox, a spout on said box, and means for forcing said filling material,while compressed, through said box and spout, substantially asdescribed.

' 2. In a mattress-filling machine, a frame, a box-like structure forthe filling material, two compressing-platens hinged to the frame atopposite ends of said box, and means for forcibly moving said platensfrom an inclined position to a position parallel with the bottom of saidbox, a spout on said box, and means for forcing said filling materialwhile compressed through said box and spout, and means for raising saidplatens from a horizontal toward a vertical position, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a mattress-fillin g machine, a frame, a

box-like structure for the filling material, two compressing-platenshinged to the frame at opposite ends of said box, a part of one of saidplatens engaging the other, and means applied to one of them forforcibly moving them from an inclined position to a position parallelwith the bottom of said box, a spout on said box, and means for forcingsaid fillin g material through said box and spout, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a mattress-filling machine, a frame, a box-like structure for thefilling material, two compressing-platens hinged to the frame atopposite ends of said box, a part of one of said platens engaging theother, and means 7 applied to one of them for forcibly moving them froman inclined position to a position parallel with the bottom of said box,and means for raising them again to said inclined position, a spout 011said box, and means for forcing said filling material through said boxand spout, substantially as described.

5. In a mattress-filling machine, a frame, a box-like structure for thefilling material, a spout thereon, means for adjusting said box andspout transversely, two compressingplatens hinged to the frame atopposite ends of said box, means for forcibly moving said platens froman inclined position to a position parallel with the bottom of said box,and raising them again to said inclined position, and means for forcingsaid filling material while compressed through said box and spout,substantially as described.

6. In a mattress-filling machine, a frame, a box-like structure for thefilling material, two compressing-platens hinged to the frame atopposite ends of said box, and means for forcibly moving said platensfrom an inclined position to a position parallel with the bottom of saidbox and back again to said inclined position, consisting of the arms 31,wheels 28 on the extremities of said arms, a track for said Wheels, thechains 7 and 8, the shaft 9, having sprocket -wheels for said chainsthereon, shaft 13 for supporting one of said chains, and means forrotating the shaft 9, in either direction, a spout on said box, andmeans for forcing said filling through said box and spout in acompressed form, substantially as described.

7. In a mattress-filling machine, a frame, a box-like structure for thefilling material, two compressing-platens hinged to the frame atopposite ends of said box, a part of one of said platens engaging theother, and means applied to one of them for forcibly moving them from aninclined position to a position parallel with the bottom of said box, aspout on said box, and means for forcing said filling material throughsaid box and spout consisting of two chains, shafts located transverselyof the machine for supporting said chains in a plane substantially levelwith the bottom of said box, the plunger D, means of engagement betweensaid plunger and said chains, and means for rotating one of saidchain-supporting shafts in either direction, substantially as described.

8. In a mattress-filling machine, a frame, a box-like structure for thefilling material, two compressing-platens hinged to the frame atopposite ends of said box, a part of one of said platens engaging theother, and means applied to one of them for forcibly moving them from aninclined position to a position parallel with the bottom of said box, aspout on said box, and means for forcing said filling material throughsaid box and spout consisting of two chains, shafts located transverselyof the machine for supporting said chains in a plane substantially levelwith the bottom of said box, the plunger D, means of engagement betweensaid plunger and said chains, and means for rotating one of saidchain-supporting shafts in either direction, and means for automaticallyarresting the rotation of said shaft,substantiallyas described.

9. In a mattress-filling machine, the combination with a stuifing-boxhaving a hinged cover, of an arm or bar for operating said cover,supports on which said arm or bar is mounted to move, a flexibleconnection secured to the arm or bar and to the cover, and a wheel orguiding device around which said flexible connection passes.

10. In a mattress-filling machine, the combination with the stuffing-boxand two hinged cover-sections, of a cover-operating arm or bar foroperating one of the sections of the cover, supports on which said baris mounted to move, and a sprocket-and-chain connection for operatingthe armor bar and the platen or cover-sections.

11. The combination with a stuffing-box having two hinged platens orcover-sections, of arms or bars provided at their upper ends with ashaft having supporting-wheels and connected at their lower ends to oneplaten, ways on which said wheels travel, an operating-shaft providedwith sprocket-wheels, chains extending from said wheeled shaft aroundsprocket-Wheels on the operatingshaft and thence to one of the platensand another chain extending around a sprocketwheel on saidoperating-shaft, around a guiding-sprocket and down to the other platen-I section, and means for rotating said operating sprocket-shaft ineither direction.

12. The combination with the stuffing-box having a hinged platen orcover and an operating arm or bar pivoted at its lower end to said coverand having its upper end mounted to travel in suitable guides,of aplunger working in one end of the box, a spout at the opposite end ofthe box and a damper or gate separating the box from the spout.

GEORGE F. MARTIN.

Witnesses:

H. A. OHAPIN, K. I. CLEMoNs.

